so let's analyze this. what happened? why does noone from the mindling family post on the blog anymore? too busy? "over it" ?? don't have anything exciting to say? nothing humorous or scandalous happening? well i beg to differ. because i KNOW YOU. i know who you live next to, too. so... my advice?? get to it!!!!

We had to let Tanner go early last week. It had become clear that he wasn't going to get better, he'd been going downhill for a couple of weeks, and had stopped eating. As Hilda and I looked at photos of Tanner over the years, we realized that he had been ill for at least a couple of years with Cushing's Disease. His weight gain, appearance, and loss of energy are all symptoms of the early part of the disease, which are easy to misinterpret, as we did, as aging signs. It wasn't until about April of this year that we knew something was really wrong, and the vet visits began. One of the first things we heard from the vet was that it could be Cushings, and that they don't usually recommend treatment because of the side effects. Not wanting to subject Tanner to that, we crossed our fingers and began a suggested treatment for another possible issue, an immune system disorder, which was treated with steroids. And for a while he really looked like he was improving, but it was not to be.

Before they knew her name by heart they called her “the pink girl.” They still do sometimes because it is so fitting. The sound of her plastic training wheels raking loudly down the street - - hhhhhhhhhhhckkkkkkkk - - is her siren song. It calls Ronan to the front of the house each afternoon, with Laird tagging along behind.